Ctjbeying-kniee



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVM. P. MOSES, OF EXETER, NEW' HAMPSHIRE.

CURRYING-KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,594, dated June 5, 1860.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WVM. P. MOSES, of Exeter, in the county of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, have invented ce'rtain new and useful Improvements in Currying-Knives, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a view of a currying knife such as is now in general use, a. thin sheet metal blade a being confined between the two plates of the stock A, by screws b, passing through slots in the`blade a. JFig. 2, a view of the same knife with my improvements attached. Fig. 3, detail to be referred to hereafter.

In the knife shown in Fig. l, the blade a projects a short distance beyond the ed es of the confining plates or stock A, whicIi are beveled down on e`ach side toward the blade; the cutting edge c is of a peculiar form being turned over`at right angles to the blade, and requires when in use, frequent setting or touching up with-an instrument kept for the purpose; to give room for this operation and also to allow for the frequent rubbing or sharpening which the blade requires, a sufficient width of blade is required beyond the edge of the stock A,-this allows the blade a., to tremble or spring, when the operator is passing it over the surface of the leather, this he does by grasping the handles B and C and pushing the knife with the cuttino` edge away from him, the blade being held nearly at right angles to the beam on which he works; his own skill and experience acquired by long practice being the only guides by which he can regulate the position of the edge of the knife and the depth to which it will cut into the leather.

The object of my present invention is to prevent the springing of the blade a and to facilitate the operation of shaving and my invention consists in applying to the back of the blade a a brace which serves to support and render'rigid the blade at the same time that it serves as a rest or guide for the operator. i

That others skilled in the art may understand and use my invention I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried out the same.

A strip of hard wood D, (shown detached in Fig. 3, and in red Fig. 1) has attached to its front edge or face a strip of metal Z se` cured by screws e.

From this edge it is beveled off toward the edge j", so that it will be snug against the beveled face of the stock A. It is secured to the stock A, in the following manner. The ends of the piece D, are cut down at e and a link h, (Fig. 2) which embraces the shank z', of the stock A, at each end is slipped over the portion .e and a thumb-screw c, which passes through the end of the link is turned up against the shank z', of the stock. In addition to this two (or more if necessary) screws Z, (Fig. 1,) pass diagonally through the piece D, into the stock A. The metal face d is set close up to the edge c of the blade a, but on the back part of the blade, this gives the requisite rigidity to the blade, while the face d, of the piece D serves as a guide-for the workman to regulate the position of the edge c as he operates the knife, and allows him to bear down boldly on the knife Without so much danger of injuring the leather. By theuse of such a guard the operator can perform better work than he can with the ordinary knife, or a larger amount of work may be done by the same person.

The edge (l of the guard'D, may be square as shown in Figs. 1, and 3, or of any other contour to suit the fancy or the requirements of the workman, or to facilitate its passage over the surface of the leather a roller or round rod m (Fig. 2) may be set in the face Z and run in bearings 0 at each end of the guard D, The screws Z may pass through slots p in pieces of metal 1', attached to the back of the piece D, as shown in Fig. 2, which will facilitate the adjustment of the guard D.

In some cases in addition to the guard D, on the back of the blade a, I use another piece E, (Fig. 2,) on the front of the blade. This piece is secured at each end at u, under the link h, and bears against the blade at cach end at S but is cut away at t, for'nearly its whole length so that it is out of the way of the cutting edge c. This gives still greater rigidity to the blade a. The pieces D and E, are easily removable when necessary for sharpening the blade.

The. link h may be arranged so that the thumb screw 7e will not be in the way when either side of the knife is being used-or some other device may be employed for securing the ends of the pieces D, and E. For example, a cap may embrace the shank z' of the stock which can be forced down over the ends of the :pieces D, and E by v Vhat I @claim as my inventionv and desire turning down a screw ring onto if, the shank to secure by Letters Patent is* being properly rounded for the purpose, or The guard D as applied to a currying the pieces 7 on the back of the lguard D, knife substantially' in the manner and for 5 Iglay belmadle healyiie' and the screws Z,1a1one the purpose specified. l

e em oye to o the uard the s ots 7) allowigg its ready adjustfgnent., The guardV WM' P' MOSES' D may be of metal but I prefer Wood faced Y WVitnesses: with metal as lightness is a great desider- THos. R. ROACH, 10 atum in a currying knife. 1 f v P. E. TESCHEMACHER. 

